the gods, informs us, that by Jupiter was meant the vegetable soul of the world, which restrained and prevented those uncertain alterations which Saturn, or Time, used formerly to cause in the mundane system. not excepted. The poetry of them is often extremely noble; and the mysterious air which prevails in them, together with its delightful impression upon the mind, cannot be better expressed than in that remarkable description with which they inspired the German editor Eschenbach, when Ver. 30. Then social reign'd.] Our mythology he accidentally met with them at Leipsic : "The- here supposeth, that before establishment of the saurum me reperisse credidi," says he, "et pro- vital, vegetative, plastic nature, (represented by fecto thesaurum reperi. Incredibile dictu quo me Jupiter) the four elements were in a variable sacro horrore afflaverint indigitamenta ista deorum: and unsettled condition; but afterwards, well-disnam et tempus ad illorum lectionem eligere cogebar, posed and at peace among themselves. Tethys quod vel solum horrorem incutere animo potest, was the wife of the Ocean; Ops, or Rhea, the nocturnum; cum enim totam diem cousumserim Earth; Vesta, the eldest daughter of Saturn, Fire; in contemplando urbis splendore, et in adeundis, and the cloud-compeller, or Zeus veprysping, the quibus scatet urbs illa, viris doctis; sola nox res- Air: though he also represented the plastic printabat, quam Orpheo consecrare potui. In abys-ciple of Nature, as may be seen in the Orphic sum quendam mysteriorum venerandæ antiquitatis descendere videbar, quotiescunque silente mundo, solis vigilantibus astris et luna ampú istos hymnos ad manus sumsi." Ver. 25. Chaos.] The unformed, undigested mass of Moses and Plato: which Milton calls "The womb of Nature." hymn inscribed to him. the sedgy-crowned race.] The rivergods; who, acccording to Hesiod's Theogony, were the sons of Oceanus and Tethys. Ver. 36............. from them, Are ye, O Naiads.] The descent of the Naiads is less certain than most points of the Greek mythology. Homer, Odyss. xiii. xugat Aiós. Virgil, in the eighth book of the Eneid, speaks as if the Nymphs, or Naiads, were the parents of the rivers: but in this he contradicts the testimony of Hesiod, and evidently departs from the orthodox system, which representeth several nymphs as retaining to every single river. On the other hand, Calimachus, who was very learned in all the school-divinity of those times, in his hymn to Delos, maketh Penus, the great Thessalian river-god, the father of his Nymphs: and Ovid, in the fourteenth book of his Metamorphosis, mentions the Naiads of Latium as the immediate daughters of the neighbouring rivergods. Accordingly, the Naiads of particular rivers are occasionally, both by Ovid and Statius, called by a patronymic, from the name of the river to which they belong. Ver. 40. Syrian Daphne.] The grove of Daphne in Syria, near Antioch, was famous for its delightful fountains. Ib. Love, the sire of Fate.] Fate is the universal system of natural causes; the work of the Omnipotent Mind, or of Love; so Minucius Felix: "Quid aliud est fatum, quam quod de unoquoque nostrum deus fatus est." So also Cicero, in the first book on Divination: "Fatum autem id appello, quod Græci EIPMAPMENHN; id est, ordinem seriemque causarum, cum causa causæ nexa rem ex se gignat -ex quo intelligitur, ut fatum sit non id quod superstitiose, sed id quod physice dicitur causa æterna rerum." To the same purpose is the doctrine of Hierocles, in that excellent fragment concerning Providence and Destiny. As to the three Fates, or Destinies of the poets, they represented that part of the general system of natural causes which relates to man, and to other mortal beings: for so we are told in the hymn addressed to them among the Orphic Indigitamenta, where they are called the daughters of Night, (or Love) and, contrary to the vulgar notion, are distinguished by the epithets of gentle, and tender-hearted. According to Hesiod, Theog. ver. 904, they were the daughters of Jupiter and Themis; but in the Orphic Hymn to Venus, or Love, that goddess is directly styled the mother of Necessity, and is represented, immediately after, as governing the three Destinies, and conducting the whole system of natural causes. Ver. 26. Born of Fate was Time.] Cronos, Saturn, or Time, was, according to Apollodorus, the son of Coelum and Tellus. But the author of the hymns Ver. 49. Your sallying streams.] The state of the gives it quite undisguised by mythological lan-atmosphere with respect to rest and motion is, in guage, and calls him plainly the offspring of the Earth and the starry Heaven; that is, of Fate, as explained in the preceding note. Ver. 27. Who many sons ......... Ib. tribes Belov'd by Pæon.] Mineral and medicinal springs. Pæon was the physician of the gods. Ver. 43. the winged offspring.] The Winds; who, according to Hesiod and Apollodorus, were the sons of Astræus and Aurora. Ver. 46. Hyperion.] A son of Cœlum and Tellus, and father of the Sun, who is thence called, by Pindar, Hyperionides. But Hyperion is put by Homer in the same manner as here, for the Sun himself. several ways, affected by rivers and running streams; and that more especially in hot seasons: first, they destroy its equilibrium, by cooling those parts of it with which they are in contact; and secondly, they communicate their own motion: and the air which is thus moved by them, being Devour'd.] The known fable of Saturn devouring his children was certainly meant to imply the dissolution of natural bodies; which are pro-left heated, is of consequence more elastic than duced and destroyed by Time. the child Ver. 28. Of Rhea.] Jupiter, so called by Pindar. Ver. 29. drove him from the upper sky.] That Jupiter dethroned his father Saturn, is recorded by all the mythologists. Phurnutus, or Cornutus, the author of a little Greek treatise on the nature of other parts of the atmosphere, and therefore fitter to preserve and to propagate that motion. Ver. 70. Delian king.] One of the epithets of Apollo, or the Sun, in the Orphic hymn inscribed to him. Ver. 79. Chloris.] The ancient Greek name for Flora. Ver. 83. Amalthea.] The mother of the first Bacchus, whose birth and education was written, as Diodorus Siculus informs us, in the old Pelasgic character, by Thymates, grandson to Laomedon, and contemporary with Orpheus. Thymates had travelled over Libya to the country which borders on the western ocean; there he saw the island of Nysa, and learned froin the inhabitants, that " Ammon, king of Libya, was married in former ages to Rhea, sister of Saturn and the Titans: that he afterwards fell in love with a beautiful virgin, whose name was Amalthea; had by her a son, and gave her possession of a neighbouring tract of land, wonderfully fertile; which in shape nearly resembling the horn of an ox, was thence called the Hesperian horn, and afterwards the horn of Amalthea: that, fearing the jealousy of Rhea, he concealed the young Bacchus, with his mother, in the island of Nysa;" the beauty of which, Diodorus describes with great dignity and pomp of style. This fable is one of the noblest in all the ancient mythology, and seems to have made a particular impression on the imagination of Milton; the only modern poet (unless perhaps it be necessary to except Spenser) who, in these mysterious traditions of the poetic story, had a heart to feel, and words to express, the simple and solitary genius of antiquity. To raise the idea of his Paradise, he prefers it even to that Nysean isle Girt by the river Triton, where old Cham, tocles, describes the sea-fights of Artemisium and Salamis. Ver. 204. Thyrsus.] A staff, or spear, wreathed round with ivy: of constant use in the bacchanalian mysteries. Ver. 227. Io Pran.] An exclamation of victory and triumph, derived from Apollo's encounter with Python. Ver. 252. Cirrha.] One of the summits of Parnassus, and sacred to Apollo. Near it were several fountains, said to be frequented by the Muses. Nysa, the other eminence of the same mountain, was dedicated to Bacchus. Ver. 263. charm the mind of gods.] This whole passage, concerning the effects of sacred music among the gods, is taken from Pindar's first Pythian ode. Ver. 297. Phrygian pipe's.] The Phrygian music was fantastic and turbulent, and fit to excite disorderly passions. Ver. 302. The gates where Pallas holds The guardian key. ] It was the office of Minerva to be the guardian of walled cities; whence she was named ПOÀIAΣ and ПOAIOYXOZ, and had her statues placed in their gates, being supposed to keep the keys; and on that account styled KAHAOYXOE. Ver. 310. fate Of sober Fentheus.] Pentheus was torn in pieces by the bacchanalian priests and women, for despising their mysteries. Ver. 318. ............. the cave Corycian.] Of this cave Pausanias, in his tenth book, gives the following description: "between Delphi and the eminences of Parnassus, in a road to the grotto of Corycium, which has its name from the nymph Corycia, and is by far the most remarkable which I have seen. One may walk a great way into it without a torch. It is of a con Ver. 94. Edonian band.] The priestesses and other ministers of Bacchus; so called from Edonus, a mountain of Thrace, where his rights were cele-siderable height, and hath several springs within it; brated. Ver. 105. When Hermes.] Hermes, or Mercury, was the patron of commerce; in which benevolent character he is addressed by the author of the Indigitamenta, in these beautiful lines: Ἐρμήνευ πάλων, κερδέμπορε, λυσιμέριμνε, Ver. 121. Dispense the mineral treasure.] The merchants of Sidon and Tyre made frequent voyages to the coast of Cornwall, from whence they carried home great quantities of tin. Ver. 136. Hath he not won.] Mercury, the patron of commerce, being so greatly dependent on the good offices of the Naiads, in return obtains for them the friendship of Minerva, the goddess of war; for military power, at least the naval part of it, hath constantly followed the establishment of trade; which exemplifies the preceding observation, that "from bounty issueth power." Ver. 143. and yet a much greater quantity of water distills from the shell and roof, so as to be continually dropping on the ground. The people round Parnassus hold it sacred to the Corycian nymphs and to Pan." Ver. 319. Delphic mount.] Delphi, the seat and oracle of Apollo, had a mountainous and rocky situation, on the skirts of Parnassus. Ver. 327. Cyrenaic.] Cyrene was the native country of Callimachus, whose hymns are the most remarkable example of that mythological passion which is assumed in the preceding poem, and have always afforded particular pleasure to the author of it, by reason of the mysterious solemnity with which they affect the mind. On this account he was induced to attempt somewhat in the same manner; solely by way of exercise: the manner itself being now almost entirely abandoned in poetry. And as the mere genealogy, or the personal adventures of heathen gods, could have been but little interesting to a modern reader; it was therefore thought proper to select some convenient part of the history of Nature, and to employ these ancient bay of Biscay. divinities as it is probable they were first employed; Ver. 150. Egina's gloomy surge.] Near this to wit, in personifying natural causes, and in repreisland, the Athenians obtained the victory of Sala-senting the mutual agreement or opposition of the mis, over the Persian navy. Ver. 160. Calpe Cantabrian surge.] Gibraltar and the Xerxes saw.] This circumstance is recorded in that passage, perhaps the most splendid among all the remains of ancient history, where Plutarch, in his Life of Themis corporeal and moral powers of the world: which hath been accounted the very highest office of poetry. INSCRIPTIONS. I. FOR A GROTTO. To me, whom in their lays the shepherds call II. For A STATUE OF CHAUCER AT WOODSTOCK. SUCH was old Chaucer. Such the placid mien Of him who first with harmony inform'd The language of our fathers. Here he dwelt For many a cheerful day. These ancient walls Have often heard him, while his legends blithe He sang, of love, or knighthood, or the wiles Of homely life: through each estate and age, The fashions and the follies of the world With cunning hand portraying. Though perchance From Blenheim's towers, O stranger, thou art come Glowing with Churchill's trophies; yet in vain Dost thou applaud them if thy breast be cold To him, this other hero; who, in times Dark and untaught, began with charming verse To tame the rudeness of his native land. With tears, with sharp remorse, and pining care, IV. O YOUTHS and virgins: O declining eld: The secrets of your bosom? Here then, round V. GULIELMVS DI, FORTIS, PIVS, LIBERATOR, CVM INEVNTE AETATE PATRIE LABENTI ADFVISSET SALVS IPSE VNICA: CVM MOX ITIDEM REIPVBLICA BRITANNICE VINDEX RE NUNCIATVS ESSET ATQVE STATOR; TVM DENIQVE AD ID SE NATVM RECOGNOVIT ET REGEM FACTVM, VT CVRARET NE DOMINO IMPOTENTI CEDERENT PAX, FIDES, FORTVNA, GENERIS HVMANI. AVCTORI PVBLICA FELICITATIS P. G. A. M. A. III. WHOE'ER thou art whose path, in summer, lies In manhood's prime. But soon did righteous Heaven VI. FOR A COLUMN AT RUNNYMEDE. THOU, who the verdant plain dost traverse here VII. THE WOOD-NYMPH. APPROACH in silence. 'Tis no vulgar tale On this fair lawn. The groves of yonder vale VIII. [leave Ye powers unseen, to whom the bards of Greece IX. ME though in life's sequester'd vale The Almighty Sire ordain'd to dwell, Remote from Glory's toilsome ways, And the great scenes of public praise; Yet let me still with grateful pride Remember how my infant frame He temper'd with prophetic flame, And early music to my tongue supply'd. "Twas then my future fate he weigh'd: And, "This be thy concern," he said, "At once with Passion's keen alarms, And Beauty's pleasurable charms, And sacred Truth's eternal light, To move the various mind of man; Till under one unblemish'd plan, His reason, fancy, and his heart unite." AN EPISTLE TO CURIO 1. THRICE has the Spring beheld thy faded fame, And the fourth Winter rises on thy shame, Since I exulting grasp'd the votive shell, In sounds of triumph all thy praise to tell; Blest could my skill through ages make thee shine, And proud to mix my memory with thine. But now the cause that wak'd my song before, With praise, with triumph, crowns the toil no more. If to the glorious man, whose faithful cares, Nor quell'd by malice, nor relax'd by years, Had aw'd Ambition's wild audacious hate, And dragg'd at length Corruption to her fate; If every tongue its large applauses ow'd, And well-earn'd laurels every Muse bestow'd; If public Justice urg'd the high reward, And Freedom smil'd on the devoted bard: Say then, to him whose levity or lust Laid all a people's generous hopes in dust; Who taught Ambition firmer heights of power, And sav'd Corruption at her hopeless hour; Does not each tongue its execrations owe? Shall not each Muse a wreath of shame bestow? And public Justice sanctify the award? And Freedom's hand protect th' impartial bard? Curio was a young Roman senator of distinguished birth and parts, who, upon his first entrance into the forum, had been committed to the care of Cicero. Being profuse and extravagant, he soon dissipated a large and splendid fortune; to supply the want of which, he was driven to the necessity of abetting the designs of Cæsar against the liberties of his country, although he had before been a professed enemy to him.-Cicero exerted himself with great energy to prevent his ruin, but without effect, and he became one of the first victims in the civil war. This epistle was first published in the year 1744, when a celebrated patriot, after a long and at last a successful opposition to an unpopular minister, had deserted the cause of his country, and become the foremost in support and defence of the same measures he had so steadily and for such a length of time contended against. It was altered by the author into the Ode to Curio; but the original poem is too curious to be omitted. N. Yet long reluctant I forbore thy name, To challenge hate when honour was his due, When they who, loud for liberty and laws, Then Curio rose to ward the public woe, In virtues sacred from a monarch's view, Thus by degrees thy cause superior grew, 'Twas then-O shame! O trust how ill repaid! O Latium, oft by faithless sons betray'd!'Twas then-what frenzy on thy reason stole? What spells unsinew'd thy determin'd soul? -Is this the man in Freedom's cause approv'd? The man so great, so honour'd, so belov'd? This patient slave by tinsel chains allur'd? This wretched suitor for a boon abjur'd? |